I have been clean for:
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๐Ÿ‘ถ an awkward realization, ๐Ÿ‘ด

Posted: Sat, Dec 29, 2018 01:33:11 PM

that no matter how hard i try to control how others see me, i will more than likely fail. i have often said that i **like** to allow others to see as BIGGER, BETTER and MORE than i really am. one of the stories i tell myself is that i have always **settled** for second best and i am **entitled** to be seen better than how i view myself. not a very secure place to dwell, but it certainly is part of who i am. asking for feedback from my peers and my friends is certainly something i shy away from, as i am afraid they will shatter the illusion that i have of them seeing me exactly as how i want to be seen.
certainly more than a little bit of self-will in that whole set of behaviors.
back after the meeting and having had saved away my work, without meaning to do so, just a bit of serendipity today, just like running past our usual meeting place to put up the sign saying we were in a new location. our speaker from Denver was in the parking lot and i got to “look good” by circling back and letting them know where we were meeting today. so when i let go of “needing” to get an espresso beverage, i got to help out two of my peers. i wanted to pretend i was all altruistic about it, and let them think i was actually being proactive, but i decided that honesty about being in the right place at the right time was what allowed me to do the next right thing.
the topic of the meeting today was insanity and not the normal insanity that the newest of the new face. no, our speaker was specifically speaking about the insanity that one faces after years clean. it took me to a place where i often dwell, specifically how everything is binary, either off or on. that certainly is true about some things in my life, i either smoke or i do not. i either am clean or i am using. in both of those cases one state precludes the other, but of course i can pare them down to ”well, just for right now,” which allows me to justify all sorts of nonsense and yes insanity.
so i am okay today and ready to head out for a long walk in the sun and slightly warming temperatures. it is a good day to be clean and a better day to get some steps in, before the sun sets and it gets really, really cold, once again.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ—œ steadfastness is ๐Ÿ—˜
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๐Ÿšฃ remaining steadfast, ๐Ÿšฃ
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๐Ÿ˜ก a broader vision ๐Ÿ˜ก
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๐ŸŒŒ areas of my life ๐ŸŒ
522 words ➥ Wednesday, December 29, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘Ž as bad, ๐Ÿ‘
370 words ➥ Tuesday, December 29, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘€ taking a good look ๐Ÿ‘€
438 words ➥ Sunday, December 29, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿšฉ not necessarily ๐Ÿš‘
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๐Ÿ˜‡ neither as selfish ๐Ÿ˜ˆ
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โœŒ through the eyes โœŒ
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ฮด i can see that i am probably neither as bad, ฮด
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โ‡” if i truly want to be free, โ‡”
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ยฟ even malicious remarks about my supposed shortcomings can *
395 words ➥ Saturday, December 29, 2012 by donnot
โ‡‘ i seek to see myself as i truly am, โ‡‘
376 words ➥ Thursday, December 29, 2011 by donnot
ฮฑ accepting feedback or seeing myself ฯ‰
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โˆž seeing myself... โˆž
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Tao Te Ching

☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯

The Tao Teh King, or The Tao and Its Characteristics
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge

Book 2

1) Or fame or life,
Which do you hold more dear?
Or life or wealth,
To which would you adhere?
Keep life and lose those other things;
Keep them and lose your life:--which brings
Sorrow and pain more near?